By Andrew M. Gordon

Banks are tightening lending standards to businesses and would-be homeowners. But not to individuals with a hankering for plastic. Less than 10 percent of banks are tightening standards for credit card applications.

For the economy to turn around, individuals have to stop living off their credit cards. (If you’re in debt, how can you save? How can you follow my investment tips? How can you sleep at night?)

More people are defaulting on credit cards these days, but not enough to dissuade banks from issuing high-interest cards to anybody with a heartbeat. The banks are borrowing money at such low rates that the higher rates they’re charging on credit cards are making them a bundle. Defaults on those cards would have to spike before they would think twice and cut back on continuing to issue them.

Look, the banks are out for themselves. So you need to be out for yourself. Tear up those credit card offers. Let’s not help the banks push us - or the economy - over the edge.

(Andrew Gordon, is the editor of INCOME, a monthly financial advisory service that uncovers income-generating stocks that promise safety (first and foremost), along with much-higher-than-average profit potential.)